FOOTNOTES:

[11] The writer is indebted to the kindness of Mrs. Jefferson Davis for much of the information necessary in the preparation of this paper. Even Mrs. Davis, however, is unable to give the date when some of her daughter's minor pieces were published, and every effort to secure them has proved fruitless. They are either out of print or inaccessible.

[12] She was the only one of them he wished to have with him, as she alone would not understand that he was a prisoner.

[13] In 1892 she was queen of Momus,—an honor that has always been reserved for natives of New Orleans. Miss Davis is the only visitor upon whom it has ever been conferred.

[14] With their slender means the two women found it impossible to meet the interruptions and exactions of sight-seers at their home, so this too had something to do with the change of residence.

[15] John W. Lovell & Company, New York, about 1884 or 1885. Now out of print.

[16] February, 1888.

[17] March, 1891.

[18] 'The Veiled Doctor,' A Novel by Varina Anne Jefferson Davis, New York, Harper and Brothers, Publishers, 1895.

[19] The following review is practically the same as one published by the author of this paper in 'The University of Mississippi Magazine,' April 1896.

[20] 'A Romance of Summer Seas,' A Novel. By Varina Anne Jefferson-Davis, Author of 'The Veiled Doctor,' New York and London, Harper and Brothers, Publishers, 1898.

[SIR WILLIAM DUNBAR—THE PIONEER OF SCIENTIST OF MISSISSIPPI.][21]
BY FRANKLIN L. RILEY, PH. D. (JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY)

William Dunbar was born in 1749 at the celebrated manor house of Thunderton, near Elgin in Morayshire, Scotland. He was the youngest son of Sir Archibald Dunbar, who was head of one of the most ancient and famous earldoms in his native country.[22] After William Dunbar's removal to America, he became head of this house in Scotland. Although he never assumed the title which he thus inherited, he is known in the history of his adopted state as Sir William Dunbar.[23]

After he had received a liberal education at Glasgow, his fondness for mathematics and astronomy led him to continue these studies in London. His health failed in the latter place and he decided to try his fortune in the New World.

He procured from the great house of Hunter and Bailey, London, an outfit of goods suitable for trading with the Indians. He reached Philadelphia in April, 1771, and immediately transported his goods, to the value of about £1,000, overland to Fort Pitt (Pittsburg).[24] Within two months he had exchanged them for furs and peltries, which he forwarded to London. He continued in this business for two years, when he formed a partnership with John Ross, a prominent Scotch merchant and capitalist of Philadelphia.

In order to establish a plantation in the British province of West Florida, Dunbar descended the Ohio and Mississippi in 1773, and selected a tract of land near Baton Rouge, then called by the English, New Richmond. He went to Pensacola, capitol of West Florida, where he received from Governor Chester permission to settle the tract selected, and thence to Jamaica, where he bought a large number of slaves, direct from Africa. With these, he returned to his new home, by way of Pensacola, the lakes, and the Amite.

He first directed his attention to raising indigo, but soon found that it was more profitable to manufacture staves for the West India market. These he exchanged for such commodities as were demanded by his neighbors along the Mississippi.[25]

From a document written in 1773, and found among the papers of George Chalmers, Secretary of Trade of Great Britain, we find that at this time there were only thirty-three settlements east of the Mississippi and between Natchez and what is now the state of Louisiana.[26] But from that date the streams of immigration began to flow steadily into this new country. This fact is shown by another contemporary manuscript, which was written by Gov. Chester, shortly after the Spanish conquest of West Florida. In it he says that in 1778, "considering the importance of the Western Parts of the Colony (of West Florida) lying on the River Mississippi which had so far increased in its inhabitants____that since the____last Assembly (held in 1772) it had been divided from the District of Mobile or Charlotte County and erected into Two Districts, viz.: The District of Manschack and the District of Natchez and contained a great number of respectable wealthy Planters and Settlers than either of the other Districts in the Colony" (Mobile and Pensacola).[27]

During the greater part of his first six years' residence near Baton Rouge, Dunbar suffered from a series of misfortunes which well-nigh destroyed all that he could accumulate through his industry and thrift. In 1775, he lost some of his most valuable slaves through a rebellion in which they were implicated. Three years later, his house and plantation were plundered by one Capt. James Willing,[28] who, although a commissioned officer in the continental army was really a freebooter. In speaking of Willing's visitation, Dunbar says, in his private Journal that "the houses of the British gentlemen on the English side were plundered, and among the rest, mine was robbed of everything that could be carried away—all my wearing apparel, bed and table linen; not a shirt was left in the house,—blankets, pieces of cloth, sugar, silverware. In short, all was fish that came in their net____I was plundered of £200 sterling value."[29] The year following, 1779, his plantation was again raided,—this time by marauding bands of soldiers from the Spanish army that subdued the district under their gallant leader, Galvez.

For several years after the last of these misfortunes, Dunbar was left undisturbed in his pursuits; and by constant application to business and the adroit management of the affairs of his firm, he accumulated a competency.

In 1787, he wrote to his partner, Mr. Ross, that the lands at Natchez were far preferable to their lands at Baton Rouge; that the Natchez soil was particularly favorable to the production of tobacco and that there were overseers in that part of the country who would engage to produce from two to three hogsheads to the hand besides provisions. His final settlement was at a place nine miles south of Natchez and four miles east of the Mississippi River. Here he opened the celebrated plantation called "The Forest," where he spent the remainder of his life.

On account of the competition from Kentucky and the Spanish restrictions on trade, he found the cultivation of tobacco unprofitable. He directed his attention to the raising of indigo, but was soon forced to abandon this also, because of the ravages of an insect. He then engaged in the cultivation of cotton, which proved to be a very remunerative crop. We are told that he became "the most extensive and successful planter" in this region, being one of the first to turn the attention of the planters of the Natchez District to the advantages which the cultivation of cotton afforded over other crops. In 1799 he wrote to Mr. Ross of Philadelphia that he continued to cultivate cotton with very great success and that it was by far the most remunerative staple that had been raised in this county.[30] In another letter, written while in the midst of the cotton harvest, he said that he had made "not less than 20,000 pounds of clean cotton worth in London £2,000." He also mentioned that he had helped to improve the method of packing cotton by the introduction of the square bale. In order to perfect this improvement, he requested his correspondent to have a screw press made in Philadelphia according to the specifications which were enclosed.[31] In a subsequent letter written to the same party, Dunbar expressed his surprise that the press should have cost him $1,000, but added that he would try "to indemnify" himself "by extracting an oil from the cotton seed." He requested to be informed what price such an oil would bring in the market, stating that it would probably be classed "between the drying and fat oils, resembling linseed in color and tenacity, but perhaps less drying."[32] Claiborne says that this was "the first suggestion of that product which has now become a great article of commerce, or indeed of utilizing cotton seed at all. At that period it was not dreamed of as a fertilizer, nor fed, in any shape to stock. It was usually burnt or hauled to a strong enclosure, at a remote part of the farm, to decompose, and was considered of no use whatever, and really a nuisance."[33]

These brief extracts, from the correspondence of Dunbar, show that he made a practical application of the scientific principles which he had learned in his native country. No comments are needed to show that he was a man of thought as well as of action.

Dunbar continued his business relations with Mr. Ross until the partnership was dissolved by the death of the latter in 1800. The interest of the heirs of the deceased was then bought by Mr. Dunbar for about $20,000.[34]

The remaining years of his life were devoted almost exclusively to scientific investigations, which he frequently characterized as his "favorite amusements." He seemed to be indifferent to political preferment, and though out of deference to the wishes of his people, he sometimes permitted an interruption of his scientific work in order to perform the duties of the offices which were more than once thrust upon him, such labors were not congenial to him. After the adjournment of the Territorial Legislature in 1803 of which he was a member, he wrote to President Jefferson expressing his delight upon being able to return to his scientific work.[35]

No greater injustice could be done Mr. Dunbar than to infer that his political indifference was due to lack of patriotism. His strong attachment to the home of his adoption is shown in the following extract from a letter to President Jefferson, written January 7, 1803:—"By a letter____from my much esteemed friend, Mrs. Trist,____she says that you had informed her it was my intention to remove shortly from this country; I beg leave to remove this impression. Since the country has been united to the American federation, I have never ceased to consider it as my own country which I hope never to be under the necessity of abandoning."[36] In another letter, written to the same great statesman six months later, Dunbar calls attention to the "renewed activity and immigration of the French to the Mississippi Valley," and expresses a fear of the consequences to follow therefrom. "It is desirable," he adds, "to preserve the whole of the Valley of the Mississippi for the spread of the people of the United States; who might in the progress of a century, plant the fine western valley of the Mississippi with many millions of inhabitants, speaking the same language with ourselves. It ought not to be objected that this object is too remote to merit contemplation of the present moment."[37] He then gives a discussion of the political methods of the French and Spaniards; also his ideas of the reason why the Spaniards had stopped the right of deposit at New Orleans, with circumstances to confirm the same.

He closes this letter by saying that politics is not a favorite subject with him, and that he would probably not introduce it again into their correspondence, unless in the view of communicating something which it might be important for Jefferson to know. However sincere may have been his intentions to abstain from writing on political matters, we find that in his next letter to Jefferson, written about four months later, he discusses at length the claim of Louisiana to West Florida, and gives a representation of the political outlook of Mississippi and of Louisiana.[38] In another letter, written three months later still, he opposes a resolution submitted to Congress "to deprive Jefferson College of thirty acres of land____and to give the same to the city of Natchez."[39]

Dunbar's greatest claim to prominence is based upon the results of his scientific investigations. His researches in this remote and then unexplored field of inquiry brought him into fellowship with the wise and learned of all countries, and gained for him a reputation wider perhaps than that of any other scientist in the history of the State. Col. Claiborne, writing in 1876, said of him that he "was not only the most learned man of his time on the Mississippi, but we have had no man his equal since."[40] Dunbar's fondness for mathematics and astronomy made him the friend and correspondent of Sir William Herschel. He also numbered among his correspondents some of the foremost scientists of his time,—Hunter, Bartram, Rittenhouse, and Rush.

During the latter part of the Spanish rule, he was appointed Surveyor General of the District of Natchez. He also served as a representative of the Spanish government in locating the 31° of North Latitude, which was established as the boundary line between the United States and the Spanish possessions east of the Mississippi. As he was never a subject of his Catholic Majesty,[41] these services were strictly professional. The relationship between him and Governor Gayoso was, however, very cordial, as is shown by their correspondence.[42] Upon one occasion,[43] Dunbar presented Gayoso with a costly sextant, which the latter needed in order to complete a course of astronomical observations upon which he was engaged. At another time[44] Gayoso had cause to thank Dunbar for the use of a "famous astronomical circle" belonging to the latter. Gayoso says of this instrument, "it surpassed my expectation,____. Every part is so delicately finished and solidly supported & so well prepared to be adjusted that it would give me courage to make an observation myself. If the instrument was not your own property I would have advised you to make a voyage to admire it. Now I think with your assistance I may with confidence and decency proceed to the demarcation of the Line as soon as I receive orders for the purpose." The sickness of Mr. Dunbar about this time was a source of great concern to Gayoso. In a third letter[45] upon this subject, written two weeks before the work upon the line began, Gayoso expressed some apprehension that, for his sake, Dunbar might imprudently expose himself. When Dunbar was at work upon the line, Gayoso wrote to him as follows: "I congratulate myself for having had the opportunity of meeting with a person so well calculated to fulfill so important a charge for which is required science with every other quality worthy of public trust; you possess them all in a degree to do honor to any country; these are my sincere sentiments."

Dunbar's services on the line of demarcation extended from May 26 to August 28, 1798, the time consumed in surveying the first eighteen miles of the boundary.[46] The preliminary observations leading to the location of the 31° were made in his private observatory on Union Hill.[47] An inundation of the Mississippi prevented the survey from beginning at the bank of the river. The water having receded by the 28th of July, Dunbar began to extend the line to the river from the point of starting, while Ellicott, the American Commissioner, continued his survey to the east.[48] Through this swamp, which was found to be 2111.42 French toises or 2 miles and 186 perches English measure, a trace sixty feet wide was cut to designate the boundary, and posts were put at intervals of a mile.

Dunbar rejoined the American Commissioners on August 20. A few days later he made the following entry in his report to the Spanish government:—"I set out on the 31st day of August bidding a final adieu to the Gentlemen of both Commissions, with whom I had spent three months in a manner highly agreeable to my own taste, and with uninterrupted harmony on my part with every gentleman of both parties, and had it not been that my family and other interests demanded my protection and superintendence, I should have with pleasure pursued this employment to its conclusion."[49] Ellicott, in his report of this survey, published in the Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, says:—"To William Dunbar, Esq., of the Mississippi Territory I feel myself under the greatest obligations for his assistance during the short time he was with us; his extensive scientific acquirements, added to a singular facility in making calculations would have reduced my labour to a mere amusement, if he had continued."[50] The same writer in his Journal, published in Philadelphia, five years after his association with Dunbar, says that he is "a gentleman whose extensive information and scientific acquirements would give him a distinguished rank in any place or in any country."[51] Since Ellicott himself was one of the foremost scientists of his time in this country[52] the value of his estimate of Dunbar cannot be questioned.

A few months after the completion of this important public survey, Daniel Clarke wrote a letter to Thomas Jefferson, in which he referred to Dunbar as "a person worthy of being consulted____on subjects relating to this Country its productions, or any philosophical Question connected with them____For Science, Probity & general information (he) is the first Character in this part of the World. His long residence in this Country, still but little known to men of letters, its Situation with respect to many Savage tribes, some of which lately inhabited the very Place where he resides & where their visages are still perceptible, the extensive Communications with remote parts presented by the Mississippi and concourse of Indians & traders, have given him many opportunities of making observations which may not have presented themselves to others and may not probably occur in future, to these may be added those he has made on the Country itself, its population, manners, Customs of the Inhabitants, the different Changes in their Government for the last 40 years, the Climate, soil & Trade which are but little known abroad."[53]

The manuscript correspondence of Thomas Jefferson, in the Archives of the Department of State at Washington shows that he acted upon this suggestion from Mr Clarke. In this collection there have been preserved fifteen letters that were written by Dunbar.

The first of these in chronological order, bears the date of July 15, 1800. It states briefly that in compliance with the request of a friend in London, Dunbar had prepared certain notes and remarks "made while upon the line of Demarcation." These he sent to Jefferson with a request that after reading he forward them to London. Jefferson, who was then President of the American Philosophical Society and a great patron of science, was so favorably impressed by these notes that instead of forwarding them as directed, he sent them to Dr. Wistar of Philadelphia with a recommendation that Dunbar be elected to membership in the Philosophical Society. On this point Jefferson wrote that he had proposed so many members at different times that he was afraid to add to the number. "Yet," says he, "Dunbar ought to be associated to us. I enclose you a letter with communications of his to Mr. Smith of London which ____will enable you to judge of his degree of science, & therefore, I leave them open for your perusal, & will pray you to seal & send them____to London." Shortly after this Dunbar was elected to membership in this, the most celebrated organization of scientists in the early history of the United States. The fact that only thirteen other Americans were added to this body during the three years from January 1st, 1799 to 1802, gives a proper estimate of the high honor conferred upon Mr. Dunbar. In writing to Dunbar, shortly after this recognition of his scientific attainments, Ellicott says: "If you do justice to your own abilities and observations, you will do credit to the society by your communications."

Before considering the character and extent of his subsequent contributions to science, the notes and remarks referred to above demand consideration. These are contained in his report of the survey to his Catholic Majesty,[54] the Spanish copy of which is in the archives at Madrid. Several years ago it was examined by Alexander Everett, who often referred to it as "a document of rare science and accuracy."[55]

It consists of two parts. The first treats of the mathematical calculations and the astronomical observations made in locating the 31° of latitude and in surveying the first eighteen miles of the line of demarcation. The remainder consists of notes taken at his encampment on the Bluff, in August, 1798. These treat, for the most part, of the vegetable and animal life to be found along the line of the survey, particularly in the swamp of the Mississippi river.

He makes several interesting observations on the red and the white cypress, the former of which he says is the more valuable for strength and durability, owing to its being impregnated with resin. He also observes that the "cypress knees," as they are commonly called, never reach a height greater than the high water mark. In combating the theory of Dupratz that the cypress is propagated from its root, Dunbar says that is "invariably propagated from the seed, which is about the size of a Spanish walnut," and that he has "often observed half a dozen or more young plants produced from one apple, which often coalesce into one and sometimes the greater part perish to make room for their more fortunate brethren." He says of one species of the white oak, that "nature has so ordained that the husk embraces the acorn so firmly that they are not separated by their fall from the tree, by which means this case by its comparatively small specific gravity buoys up the acorn, and being carried along by the various current of the inundation, serves to plant distant colonies of this species." He also gives an interesting account of the cotton tree, the willow and the bamboo cane, the last of which he attempts to classify botanically. He says of the cane: "It produces a very abundant crop of grain, and that only once, for it immediately after perishes, root and branch, it is not known how many years the reed requires to arrive at this state of maturity; if we were to suppose that 25 years were its limit, it must happen that a person who has resided during that length of time in this country and who has visited many parts of it must have seen all the cane that came under his inspection once in grain, and upon the average one twenty-fifth part of all the cane in a large tract of country ought annually to yield a crop, but this is by no means the case, for I who have lived during that length of time in this country and have frequently traversed many extensive tracts of it, have never in any one year seen 1-500 part of the canes in seed of those parts that I have intimately known." He therefore concludes that it must require at least five hundred years for this plant to reach "a state of maturity to enable it to bear a crop of seed."

His description of the ornamental trees of this region is graphic and interesting. No one can read his account of the magnolia tree without being deeply impressed with the fact that he appreciated its beauty. In studying the properties of the poplar, he made a hydrometer of a thin, broad piece of plank of this material, cut across the grain. He "improved its sensibility by boiling it when very dry, in a solution of mild alkali or carbonated potash." He describes many other trees, among which are the dogwood, the redbud, the wild cherry, the horse chestnut and the sweet gum.

He records the observation of a very rare phenomenon, which he saw August 12th, when engaged upon this work. It was a rainbow that consisted of more than a semi-circle, "the vertical point" of which "did not seem more than 8 feet from the eye, although the inferior parts seemed farther removed, which produced an optical deception by giving it the appearance of an ellipsis, the transverse diameter being parallel to the horizon; this perhaps is the first natural rainbow exceeding a semi-circle which has been seen by a human eye, because to produce such an effect from the general idea formed of this phenomenon, the sun ought to be in the horizon to cause the appearance of a full semi-circle exceeded only by the parallactic angle of the elevation of the eye above the base of the rainbow, which must generally be insensible; the above effect however is easily accounted for on Newton's principles[56] from the peculiar circumstances in which I was placed."

He says that the microscope reveals in the water of this part of the country the same varieties of animalculæ which he had often examined in Europe and many new ones, which he does not remember to have seen described by any writer, and which he hopes to find leisure to describe at some future day.

After giving a brief account of some of the wild animals, reptiles, fish, and birds of this country, he concludes with lists of the "vegetable productions of the Swampy Grounds or such as are much exposed to the Annual Inundation;" the "most remarkable vegetable productions of the high lands;" and the "Trees and Plants cultivated by the Inhabitants of the Mississippi territory and by those of the adjoining Spanish Provinces."

As has been noted above, the last ten years of Dunbar's life were devoted almost entirely to scientific research. The value of his contributions to knowledge was widely recognized, and "The Forest" became familiar to the scientific world, though it was sometimes incorrectly placed in Louisiana.

Volume V. of the Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, published in Philadelphia in 1801, contains three articles from his pen, and Volume VI. of the same publication, issued eight years later, contains twelve, one of which was translated into the German and appeared in Gilbert's Annalen of Physics, vol. 31,[57] published in Leipzig in 1809. To this latter volume of the Transactions Andrew Ellicott contributed nine articles, Jose Joaquin de Ferrer, eight, Dr. Benjamin Smith Barton, five, Benj. Henry Latrobe, three, and Dr. Joseph Priestly, F. R. S., three, while to repeat Dunbar contributed twelve. This shows that Dunbar was at that time one of the most active investigators on the continent.

His contributions to the Transactions and his correspondence with Jefferson give a conception of the character and extent to his investigations. The first of these contributions was written June 30, 1800, and treats of the "Language of Signs among certain North American Indians." In this he traces certain points of analogy "between the Chinese written language and our Western language of signs." In both, says he, there are certain "roots of language in which every other word or species in a systematic sense is referred to its proper genus or root." He gives, for example, the sign for water which is a genus and shows that rain, snow, ice, hail, hoar-frost, dew, etc., are species represented by signs more or less complex, retaining always the root or genus as the basis of the compound sign. He adduces other interesting facts from this study of the subject, which cannot be given in this connection.

His Meteorological Observations for 1799, gives unmistakable evidence of his devotion to science. It shows that three times a day, each day in the year, he recorded the temperature and the barometric readings; also the direction and strength of the winds with the state of the weather, and the amount of rainfall together with remarks about the state of the vegetation from time to time. To this he adds a Recapitulation, giving the greatest, the lowest, and the mean points of the thermometer and the barometer, and the amount of rainfall for each month and then for the whole year. The Editor of the publication states in a footnote that "the society have been induced to publish this journal entire, as it is certainly the first that has been kept with so much accuracy and attention in that part of the world, and may serve as a standard with which to compare future observations."

In another article, Dunbar gives a "Description of a singular phenomenon seen at Baton Rouge" in the spring of 1800.

His fourth contribution consists in extracts from a letter dated Aug. 22, 1801, which he wrote to Jefferson, relative "to fossil bones found in Louisiana, and to Lunar Rainbows observed West of the Mississippi." In this letter, he referred to an account of "Dr. Hooks' scheme of a telegraphy, in the year 1684," which he intended to transmit to Jefferson, but found himself anticipated in that communication by a paper in the first volume of the London Philosophical Magazine. He also directs Jefferson's attention to "a certain phenomenon at sunset,"—the yellow orange color of the Eastern clouds, which ascends as the sun descends—upon which he makes certain observations and explanations, and suggestions for further investigations by philosophers.

With this letter there was enclosed a fifth contribution to the Transactions. This article is entitled, "Meteorological Observations made by William Dunbar, Esq., at the Forest, four miles east of the Mississippi, in Latitude 31° 28´ North, and in Longitude 91° 30´ west of Greenwich, for the year 1800; with remarks on the state of the winds, weather, vegetation, etc., calculated to give some idea of the climate of the country." In this article he says, "the frequent and rapid changes in the state of the weather in this climate furnish an excellent opportunity of verifying the vulgar opinion of the moon's pretended influence at her conjunctions, oppositions and quadratures; but truth compels me to say (what probably may be said of many similar persuasions) that after a continued and scrupulous attention to this object, I have not discovered any such regularity of coincidences, which might justify the reverence with which those traditional maxims are at this day received." After discussing a method of manufacturing ice by artificial means, he concludes this communication with the following observations on the storms of the Gulf Coast region: "It is evident that the circular course of the vortex followed that of the sun's apparent diurnal motion.—It is possible that if similar observations are made upon all hurricanes, tornadoes and whirlwinds they will be found universally to consist of a vortex with a central spot in a state of profound calm."

Dunbar's next letter that is preserved in the Jefferson Papers is one to John Vaughan bearing the date of March 21, 1802. In this the writer says that he envies Vaughan's "happiness at the discovery of a complete skeleton of a mammoth." He makes some observations on the species to which this mammoth belongs and refers to recent discoveries of a similar nature in the interior of Asia and Borneo. He gives the results of recent geological observations on the nature of the soil and the stratification of the same as shown by the banks of the Mississippi at Natchez; also a discussion of stones, rocks, ores, mineral waters, petrifaction, etc. He requests Vaughan to inform Dr. Bartram that since writing him last, he has made several new discoveries of a botanical and zoological nature which he here describes.

This letter also shows that Dunbar was one of the first Mississippians to resort to inoculation for protection against small-pox. He asked Vaughan to send him some fresh vaccine virus and stated that six children in his own family had never "had that disease, besides a lengthy list of Black people, both young and old." Vaughan complied with this request by sending the virus and asked Jefferson to do likewise, stating that "the Vaccine inoculation gathers strength hourly, no respectable practitioner (of Philadelphia) opposes it."

January 15, 1803 Dunbar wrote to Jefferson: "Bad health which has endured above twelve months has withheld much of my attention from Philosophic objects, a favorable change having lately taken place, I perceive with satisfaction that my mind and body are both recovering their former tone and now again enjoy the pleasing prospect of dedicating my leisure hours to my favorite amusements."

Dunbar's next contribution to the Transactions was entitled, "Abstract of a communication from Mr. Martin Durale, relative to fossil bones, etc., of the County of Opelousas, west of the Mississippi to Mr. William Dunbar of the Natchez," etc. In this account Dunbar, in referring to certain phenomena makes use of the following expression, which has characterized the true philosophers of all ages, "I have never observed them without endeavoring to ascertain the cause of them."

This communication was accompanied by "pretty full vocabularies of the tongues of two Indian nations of that country," to which "was added a sketch of the religion or superstition of these people." In this connection, Dunbar says, "From several other quarters I have used some efforts to draw similar information, but am hitherto disappointed." He also makes mention of a letter which he had just received from Sir Joseph Banks with an extract from the Transactions of the Royal Society.

January 28, 1804, Dunbar wrote to Jefferson transmitting his seventh and eighth contributions to Volume Six of the Transactions, while an extract from his letter was published as a ninth contribution. His seventh article was entitled a "Description of the river Mississippi and its Delta, with that of the adjacent parts of Louisiana." In this he gives a table of the mean altitude of the waters of the Mississippi at Natchez, from the lowest ebb to the highest elevation for the first and fifteenth of each month in the year. It also contains a good account of overflows and some philosophical reflections on the velocity, banks, currents, deposits and depth of the river and the effects of confining it to its channel. In speaking of the overflow lands he says, "although no successful attempt is likely to be made in our day, yet posterity will reclaim" them. He discusses the methods used in Holland and in Egypt, and makes several speculations as to the method that will probably be successful. This sketch, he says, in conclusion, "is the result of occasional observation for a series of years and of scattered information collected from various sources, probably often uncertain, from a cause which is unfortunately, too general; viz: the extreme inattention of persons, even of some education to the most curious phenomena passing daily under their review."

The eighth article was entitled: "Monthly and Annual Results of Meteorological Observations" for the years 1801, 1802, 1803.

In an appendix to his seventh article, he discusses the writings of certain Italian, French and German scientists, giving his reasons for differing with them on certain philosophical questions. His discussion is devoted largely to a consideration of certain laws of hydrostatics.

His "Observations on the eclipse of the sun, June 16, 1806" made in his private observatory on Union Hill, constitutes his tenth contribution to the publication mentioned above. This article gives a vivid account of the excited state of mind with which an astronomer awaits the time when nature affords favorable opportunities for investigating her mysteries. It also shows that this frontier scientist of Mississippi enjoyed in thought, as he could not by personal association, the companionship of the great thinkers of the world. These are his words:

"The moment of the expected impression approached and reflecting that this eclipse was to be seen all over Europe and North America which renders it a very important phenomenon for settling comparative longitudes, I conceived that all the zealous astronomers of both worlds were then looking with me at the great luminary and centre of our system. I kept my eye riveted upon that point of the disk where the eclipse was to commence, with an anxiety known only to astronomers; with the chronometer watch at my ear, I attended to the most doubtful appearances which my perturbation perhaps presented to the eye, and upon every alarm, began to count the beats of the watch (five in two seconds) in order that I might not lose the very first instant of the impression, and I am confident that not one quarter of a second was lost."

The last letter that has been preserved from the interesting correspondence between Dunbar and Jefferson, bears the date of Dec. 17, 1805. With it was enclosed Dunbar's "Method of finding the Longitude by a single observer without any knowledge of the precise time," a problem that had been solved by him at Jefferson's request. This formed an eleventh contribution to the publication referred to above.

There is no reason for doubting that this correspondence was continued throughout the remaining four years of Dunbar's life, though the letters have not been found by the writer.

Dunbar's last contribution to the Transactions was entitled: "Observations on the Comet of 1807-'8." It was read before the Society Nov. 18, 1808. In this article appears at least one entry which indicated that the scientific services of its author were drawing to a close. "Indisposition," says he at one point in the narrative, "prevented observation for some time past." A few months from this date the scientific investigation of this remarkable man were brought to a close.

Writers have frequently noted the fact that many great men have lived in advance of their times. To substantiate this assertion they cite us to the careers of Copernicus, Galileo, Newton, and a host of others. That Dunbar is entitled to the same distinction might be amply proved by a study of his life.

The most conclusive evidence of this fact is furnished by his idea of the relation the government should sustain to scientific explorations. In a letter to John Vaughan, bearing the date of March 21, 1802, he writes as follows:

"There is no example of any encouragement being held out by [our] Government; no spirit of inquiry set on foot at the public expense. What is the reason, we have no State observatory to which individuals might send their contributions & from which they might receive astronomical intelligence.... No naturalist travels at the public expense to explore our immense country & make us acquainted with the infinite resources it Contains upon its surface, in its waters & within its bowels, from whence great national advantages would result; the public & individuals would be instructed where to direct their researches after such objects as might become subjects of curiosity, Public the exercise of genius & agrandizem't of fortune; but it would seem that the speculations ... of our politicians are confined within the narrow circle of the Customs & Excise, while literature of our present illustrious President will correct & enlarge the views of our public men, & that under his auspices & protection, Arts, Science, & Literature may take a flight, which will at length carry them beyond those European brethren, as wel[l] to[o] as above them in the enjoyment of national liberty."

In transmitting this letter to Jefferson, Vaughan says of Dunbar, "he is like yourself a warm friend to the encouragement of Science and letters, it would be fortunate for the country, if these ideas became more prevalent."

Remarkable to relate, two years had not elapsed after Dunbar had written this despondent letter before he saw evidences of a partial fulfillment of his desire and three months later still, he was appointed a member of one of the first expeditions sent out for scientific purposes at the expense of the government of the United States. In a letter to President Jefferson, written May 13, 1804, Dunbar says: "The surveying and exploring expeditions to be undertaken at public expense must be most gratifying to all lovers of science and natural research.... It will give me the highest satisfaction to contribute everything in my power to promote the proposed expedition on the Red and Arcansa Rivers."

Owing to the dissentions among the Osage Indians, the main part of this expedition was postponed, however, until the spring of 1805. In a letter bearing the date of July 14, 1804, Jefferson wrote to Dunbar:—"It is very desirable that you make use of any part of the men or matters provided for the expedition and go to what distance, and in what direction you please, return when you please, but in time to report to us the result of your researches, which report will probably induce Congress to enlarge the appropriation."[58]

August 18, 1804 he wrote Jefferson that, "in consequence of the permission you are pleased to grant, I have determined to make an excursion up the Washita river and to the hot springs." Two months later, he wrote that he had about completed the necessary preparations for the expedition and that he would carry "several instruments [of his own] in addition to those provided for the party" by the government. Three weeks after writing the above letter, he again wrote to the President from the Post of Washita giving him the latitude of the most important points on the river.

After his return to Natchez, he wrote Jefferson the first scientific account of the water at Hot Springs. Subsequent analyses of this water have shown some inaccuracies in this account, but it must be remembered that Dunbar was only a pioneer in this important field. His account reads as follows:

"I have examined the water at 130° Fahrenheit under a powerful microscope and found vegetable and animal life, the former a species of moss, the latter a testaceous bivalve of the size of the minutest grain of sand. I do not despair of being able to reanimate these as soon as I can procure a little leisure....[59] From our analysis of the water ... it appears to contain lime with a minute portion of iron dissolved by a small excess of Carbonic acid. This is ... visible upon the first view of the Springs; an immense body of calcareous matter is accumulated upon the side of the hill, by perpetual deposits from the hot waters, and the bed of the run is coloured red oxide of iron or rather Carbonated iron. Every little spring which rises up in a favorable situation forms its own calcareous cup considerably elevated in form of a crater."

The following year (1805) Dunbar was given the general supervision of the Red River Expedition. May 24 of that year Mr. Dearborn, the Secretary of War, wrote requesting him to make all arrangements for this expedition, limiting the expenses to $5,000. In a letter bearing the date of March 30, 1807, Mr.

Dearborn expressed his appreciation of Mr. Dunbar's services in the following words:—"The frequent drafts on account of the United States upon your time and patience demand an apology, while your disinterestedness and highly useful services entitle you to the most grateful acknowledgements."

Dunbar's idea of the relation the government should sustain to scientific research is still further set forth in his last letter that has been preserved in the Jefferson manuscripts. From this letter, which bears the date of December 17, 1805, the following extract is taken:

"I have just received from London a six feet Gregorian reflecting Telescope with six magnifying powers from 110 to 550 times; hitherto from a liberal construction of the act of Congress, by the Collectors of the Mississippi Territory residing at Fort Adams, I have been in the habit of receiving books and instruments free of duty, but Mr. Browne at New Orleans is so rigidly faithful as a public servant that he admits of no exemptions neither in favor of the Mississippi Society, for which I have lately imported a chest of books; nor in favor of this valuable instrument, the cost of which in London was about 150 guineas, [about $750]. I suppose Mr. Browne is quite correct as to the letter of the law.... I have just sent off an order for Mr. Briggs, Mr. Dinsmore and myself, for astronomical instruments & chronometers to the amount of 300 guineas [about $1,500], all of which as well as that just received, will in some shape be applied to public use and benefit & might therefore be entitled to a claim upon public indulgence."[60]

The significance of this extract is twofold. It shows that Dunbar devoted his time to scientific investigation not only to gratify himself but to serve the public. His love of science for its own sake made "favorite amusements" of labors that would otherwise have been very onerous. His desire to benefit others through these investigations led him to fulfill that true test of all greatness,—service to one's fellow-man. This extract shows further the contagion of an enthusiastic devotion to a great cause. Dunbar and his friends, remote from the intellectual centers of the world, constituted themselves into a society, which spent a larger sum of money for scientific purposes than perhaps any other private scientific organization in the history of the State. He sought the co-operation of all thinking men with whom he came in contact. He was active in his efforts to collect all facts of scientific interest throughout his part of the country. That he was often disappointed in these efforts, is shown by more than one passage in his writings. In his "Description of the Mississippi and its Delta" he expresses his regret over "the extreme inattention of persons, even of some education, to the most curious phenomena passing daily under their review."

Philip Nolan, the dauntless hero of one of Edward Everett Hale's most interesting stories,[61] was a warm personal friend of Dunbar and was often mentioned in the Jefferson correspondence in the most complimentary terms. This relationship was probably due to the fact that Nolan had a remarkably wide range of information gathered from the remote western wilds and he took pleasure in imparting the results of his observations to Dunbar.

He was a warm friend to all students of nature. Only a few months before his death, he had the pleasure of entertaining in his own home, "the Father of American Ornithology," Alexander Wilson. Upon hearing that Wilson was in Natchez, Dunbar wrote him the following letter:

Forest, 20th May, 1810.

"Sir:—It is very unfortunate that I should be so much indisposed as to be confined to my bedroom; nevertheless I cannot give up the idea of having the pleasure of seeing you as soon as you find it convenient; the perusal of your first volume of Ornithology, lent me by General Wilkinson, has produced in me a very great desire of making your acquaintance.

"I understand, from my boy, that you propose going in a few days to New Orleans, where you will see some small cabinets of natural history that may interest you. But as I presume it is your intention to prosecute your inquiries into the interior of our country, this cannot be done better than from my house, as your headquarters; where everything will be made convenient to your wishes. My house stands literally in the forest, and your beautiful orioles with other elegant birds, are our courtyard companions.

"The bearer attends you, with a couple of horses, on the supposition that it may be convenient for you to visit us today; otherwise he shall wait upon you any other day that you shall appoint.

"I am respectfully, &c.,

"William Dunbar."[62]

In writing of this visit, Wilson says in his Journal:—"I was received with great hospitality and kindness, had a neat bedroom assigned me; and was requested to consider myself as at home during the time I should find it convenient to stay in exploring this part of the country." In his great work on Ornithology he acknowledges the assistance of Dunbar in securing two or three new species of birds. He also refers to Dunbar as a man "whose life has been devoted to science," and he says "the few happy days I spent there [at 'The Forest'] I shall never forget."[63] In writing to Dr. Bartram from Philadelphia, Sept. 2, 1810, Wilson says, "Mr. Dunbar of Natchez, remembered you very well, and desired me to carry his good wishes to you."[64]

The most prominent trait of Dunbar's character was his love of nature. He admired her in all of her manifestations. She was attractive to him not only because of her beauty but because of her mysteries. With the spirit of a true philosopher, he ever inquired into the laws which regulated her actions. To paraphrase slightly his own language, he never observed any phenomena without endeavoring to ascertain the cause of them. He did not read at random, pages from the great book of nature, but read as continuously as circumstances would permit. He read it in the howling wind, the turbid current, the trembling needle, the growing plant, the blazing comet, the silent stone, the lifeless fossil. He read it critically; he read it appreciatively. That he often raised his eyes from the well-conned pages of this great book to fix them on the omniscient Author himself is shown in more than one passage from his writings.

The career of this great pioneer scientist of Mississippi ended in the month of October, 1810. Although he was then in his sixty-first year, his work was incomplete and his plans but partially executed. In the words of Pliny, "The hand of death is ... too severe, and too sudden, when it falls upon such as are employed in some immortal work. The sons of sensuality, who have no other views beyond the present hour, terminate with each day the whole purpose of their lives; but those who look forward to posterity, and endeavor to extend their memories to future generations by useful labors:—to such death is always immature, as it still snatches them from amidst some unfinished design."

The permanent results of Dunbar's life-work may be summarized as follows: